Recently the traditional wine store or wine retail store has come increasingly under commercial pressure from the onset of the on-line wine store or wine stores on the web. This change in fortune has been mirrored by one of America 's favourite wine types, that is Rosé. Wines, like clothes styles, move in and out of fashion and, after years in the wilderness being considered weedy and weak, Rosé has made a comeback with wine store wholesalers and on-line wine stores reporting rocketing sales. From being seen as bland and lacking character pink wine is finally being appreciated, a glass of well chilled Rosé making the perfect accompaniment to a summers evening. Once the only discernible taste in a glass of Rosé was its sugariness and this goes a long way to explaining the decline in its popularity.
Now winemakers have started to put more effort into making Rosé, using better grape varieties, making use of modern winemaking equipment to produce a fruity, aromatic but dry style of pink wine that is available widely in all wine stores. Rosé is usually made with 100% red grapes; the skins with their colour being left with the juice to bring out the redness. The length of this process determines the level of tannins and amount of flavour that the wine takes up. For example in Spanish 'rosado' this process takes about eight hours.
Rosés range widely in character, colour and flavour and, the palest of all, the 'blush' wines with minimal taste and maximum sweetness, are the popular choice of American winemakers and available in all wine stores and on-line wine stores. Also the Californian wineries are now making richer and tastier Rosés, much redder and with higher alcohol levels. The Australians are also creating powerful, gutsy Rosés mostly made from grapes of the Grenache variety. Chile and Argentine are other New World countries that produce distinctive rice Rosés. Moving to France the redder Rosé producing areas are Provence and the Rhône Valley - look for Tavel and Lirac on the labels. As you move North and the climate cools the Rosé produced becomes lighter, such as the medium-bodied and succulent wines of Bordeaux , using the Merlot grape. Further north the Loire Valley produces various Rosés from the uninspiring Rosé d'Anjou to the more acceptable Cabernet d'Anjou or Rosé d'Anjou. Italy produces 'Rosato ' , whilst Portugal provides the once popular Mateus Rosé and the much more exciting pinks from the Birrada region. After France , Spain is the other big source of Rosé such as Chivite, a mouthwatering wine with a raspberry flavour and clean acidic finish. The best come from the Navarre and Rioja regions.
So what are the important pointers in first buying your Rosé from a wine store or an on-line wine store, and secondly the best way in which to enjoy its consumption? For the best available range look at the best wine stores on the web, like the Atlanta wine store, a total wine store that offers a vast range of the best Rosé's. When drinking Rosé, the golden rule is to serve it well chilled allowing the tangy succulence of the wine to come out and to pick a youthful wine as pink wine does tend to age quickly once in a bottle. Once opened don't keep Rosé for more than a day or two and keep the wine in the chiller or refrigerator between servings. In the rare event of not finishing the wine within two days then the best course of action would be to chuck it away.
